Tangled Normalcy
by bluesheepy
Summary: A story inspired by Of Mice and Men. Angelo arrives at a new ranch and the rest follows... I'M bad at summaries


**Inspired by Of Mice and Men** (copyright to Steinbeck)

Whistling cheerfully to himself, the young man reached up to swipe a droplet of sweat from his forehead. The air was stagnant and a haze of breezeless afternoon heat seemed to have followed him throughout his journey and was now trapped within the empty ranch. The man stepped gratefully into the shade and peered into the empty bunkhouse, eyes swivelling round, counting the beds and inspecting the unpainted walls. Three made beds, seven unmade and a branch poking through the back wall.

'Whatta hell you doing in there?' an angry yell silenced the whistling and the man turned quickly, fitting a smile upon his face.

'I was jus' lookin' sir, I ain't doing here nothing, sir.'

'Well you better get outta here nigger, I ain't want you hangin' round here 'cos I know your type, yous steal my chickens last week, ain't ya?'

'No sir, I ain't do nothing like that, I just thinking of getting some work up here – you got any work for me sir?'

'I don't give work to niggers, so you better get outta here now before I get my gun, an' I will, so don' you go being clever with me.'

The man stepped back to look the Negro up and down, his eye calculating as he took in the medium build, dark skin and cloud of hair upon his head. 'I bet I could take ya down with one swing, so get outta here now.'

The negro still wore his smile and raised his hands slowly 'you only got three men here and you got a nice big place, too big for three men surely. Now I wouldn't want to see such a nice place to go bad, so how 'bout it?'

'How 'bout what?' the man's eyes had narrowed and his fists were beginning to clench at his sides.

The negro closed his eyes for just a moment, then nodded to himself slowly.

'Tell ya somethin', forget fifty and found, I'll do it for thirty, twenty five even – 'cos don' think I ain't seen that this place is failin'. Ain't got nearly nobody to buck ya barley no more, so whatta you say? Thirty?'

The man's face twisted, then settled again as he followed the negro's eyes into the bunkhouse.

'Twenty and it's a deal – an' you ain't get no bed in there, you're in with the horses.'

'Twenty'll do me fine sir, and I'm sure the barn's perfectly comfy,' the negro's smile grew and the man grew nervous.

'So whatta they call ya?' he asked, taking a tatty book from his pocket ''cos I ain't want jus' anybody wondering round my place.'

'Angelo, Angelo de Ritta, sir,' Angelo beamed.

'That ya real name? 'Cos it sound pretty cuckoo to me.'

Angelo's face fell slightly 'hey, ain't you go saying that sir, that the name my old lady gave me.'

'I don't give no damns about your old lady nigger, you jus' do your work and no one's gonna bother you. I ain't want no trouble cos I got a black man on my ranch.'

'I won't give your no trouble sir.'

'Well good. So, the barn's that way - I'm sure Hays will show ya round. Hays' a skinner, you'll see 'im later.' Angelo nodded a 'thank you sir,' but the boss didn't reply, instead opting to march back into the small farmhouse.

Angelo shook his head, but thought little of it. Shrugging his bindle back onto his shoulder he made his way to the barn. It was in a miserable state much like the bunkhouse, the roof half collapsed and the wood dry and cracking. Underneath the stalls however, the straw was thick and well slept in. Angelo sighed and moved over to the corner, inspecting the straw and deciding it was driest there. He threw his bindle to the floor and contemplated on unpacking, but chose instead to simply lie down.

Weary from his journey, he found it impossible not to sleep and by the time he awoke again and made his way outside, the sky had shifted idly from blue to a glowing orange and a purple hue hung on the clouds. The air was cool now and Angelo almost missed the sticky hug of the afternoon. He leaned silently against the splintered wall of the barn, knees tucked up beneath his chin. Twenty would be enough, he decided - there was hardly anything left to buy anyway. Maybe a shot, but those went cheap when you knew where to go.

The clack of boots and jangle of halter chains sounded out across the ranch, and reminded Angelo that he wasn't the only one here alive. 'Well, you keep on wishin',' a voice spoke over the footsteps, a hint of laughter in the tone.

'Eh, ain't nothing but no good 'ere,' a second grumbled.

'Ah, stop fussin' an go eat up. Gotta be better that nothin' right?'

'I ain't so sures,' the second muttered but Angelo presumed he must have complied for only one figure appeared in front of the barn.

Hurriedly, Angelo scrambled to his feet and looked attentively up at the man and his two mules. The man, tall with a scrag if dark hair and clothes not dissimilar to Angelo' s, smiled briefly before reaching up to scratch the mule' s head.

' You just come? Cos I ain't think I ever seen you round here before.' 'Yeah, I just came this afternoon, so it ain't likely you ever seen me. You like me to take them inside for ya sir?' Angelo grinned childishly then pointed towards the mules. The man hesitated, hand tightening on the reigns.

'I ain't so sure, see, I never met you before and Rosie ain't so kind to strangers...' he trailed off, suddenly looking down. 'Well I ain't gonna hurt them, and I'm sure she ain't gonna hurt me neither,' Angelo smiled encouragingly.

'Okay,' the man relented, handing over Rosie' s reigns 'but I better take Law, cos Law get upset when anybody else take him.' He placed an arm round Law's neck and led the creature into the barn.

Angelo followed with Rosie who was compliant until it came to tying her.

'Rosie!' the man scolded, stepping away from Law who incidentally followed him 'here, let me. Law, ge' off.'

Angelo grinned 'I ain't never met nobody who cared so much for their animals before.'

'Well there ain't nothing wrong with it,' the man suddenly bristled.

'I aint say it in no bad way sir, I was jus' saying.'

'Okay,' he nodded and went back to the mules. Angelo rolled back and forth onto his heels, eyes slipping down to the corner where he'd left his belongings. He could see now in this light that the straw was damp there too.

'I'm Hays, by the way,' the man stepped back from Rosie and guided Law back to his stall.

'Angelo, I'm Angelo Mr Hays.'

'I'm not no mister Angelo, just Hays. Nice to meet you anyway Angelo.' Hays held out his hand but Angelo frowned.

'No white guy shakes a nigger's hand.'

'Well I shake any guy's hand if he's an all right fella,' Hays sniffed lightly. Angelo hesitated, then reached out and shook the hand.

'See, I ain't gonna bite your head off. Now, you know where to go for dinner, cos Valentine and Smithie don't leave anything even if they don't like it, so you'd better hurry up and get there.'

'Boss didn't tell me anything - told me to ask you.'

'Oh sure , I'll show you, but Smithie and Valentine ain't gonna like you.'

'Well I guess that's too bad,' Angelo grinned ruefully and followed Hays out of the barn. Sure, he thought, twenty will be plenty to be here.

**interested in reading anymore, let me know and I'll upload the next chapter**


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